RELIGION
Lai attends annual prayer
President William Lai (賴清德) prayed for wisdom, courage and the ability to lead Taiwan and its citizens during this year’s National Prayer Breakfast yesterday. In his address at the event held in Taipei, Lai said that one of the three main duties he has prioritized as Taiwan’s leader is ensuring the nation’s survival and development in the face of threats from external totalitarian powers. The second is to protect the lives and property of Taiwanese as well as maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region as a contribution to the world, he added. The third is to take care of the lives of Taiwan’s 23 million citizens by developing not only the high-tech sector, but also small and medium-sized enterprises, and sharing the fruits of economic growth with the public, with special care for the vulnerable. Lai thanked the nation’s churches for the role that they have played in Taiwan’s transition and growth, adding that whether it be charity, education, medicine or spiritual growth, churches have been a spiritual backbone and provided stability for society. The government would keep working closely with churches to provide better care and opportunities for the public, he said. The National Prayer Breakfast in Taiwan, held annually since 2001, is jointly organized by various Christian church denominations and organizations.
Photo: CNA
TRAVEL
Passport rank down slightly
Taiwan’s passport is ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released yesterday showed. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports out of 227 globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Colombia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in August. Singapore has the top-ranked passport, with 195 visa-free destinations available to holders, followed by Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and South Korea, all tied at 192 destinations. Taiwan’s passport is tied with Peru at 34th. In the list’s first edition in 2006, Taiwan ranked 55th. It dropped to 69th in 2010, but has remained ranked in the 30s since 2015.
EARTHQUAKES
Series of earthquakes jolt Tainan
A series of earthquakes struck the southern Taiwan city of Tainan yesterday evening, including a magnitude 5.4 temblor, the strongest of the quakes, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA).The epicenter of the magnitude 5.4 earthquake, which occurred at 8:40 pm, was located in Jiali District, 23.2 kilometers north of Tainan City Hall, at a depth of 7.7 kilometers, CWA data indicated.The quake’s intensity, which measures the actual effects of a seismic event, was highest in Tainan’s Jiali District (佳里), where it registered 5- on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale.The earthquake also registered a 4 in Chiayi and Yunlin counties, the CWA said.The magnitude 5.4 quake was preceded by two smaller earthquakes of magnitudes 4.0 and 3.0 at 6:45 pm and 8:22 pm, respectively, according to the CWA.Three more earthquakes followed later in the evening: a magnitude 3.5 temblor at 8:43 pm, a magnitude 4.3 earthquake at 8:43 pm and another magnitude 3.5 temblor at 9:19 pm. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries resulting from the quakes.
CRIME
Murderer to pay damages
A court in a civil proceeding on Thursday ruled that a Taiwanese man sentenced to life in prison in January for murdering a Malaysian student must pay more than NT$6 million (US$184,088) in compensation to the victim’s family. The Shilin District Court said that Chen Po-yen (陳柏諺) must pay NT$3,010,355 and NT$3,369,999 to the mother and father of the female university student he strangled to death, with interest to be calculated annually at 5 percent from August last year. The court’s ruling can be appealed. Chen, who was 30 at the time of the murder, is serving a life sentence for killing the female university student, identified by her surname, Chai (蔡), in Oct. 2022. The court found Chen guilty of murder in January, a verdict that was upheld by the High Court in June. Chen confessed to strangling Chai to death in her rented residence after she refused to return money he had given to her, the court said in January. Chai, who was aged 24 at the time of her death, was studying at a Taipei university and working as a part-time model and live streamer on social media, police said.
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